Singapore flagship means Muji now has more stores abroad than Japan

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 25, 2017

Muji has just opened its 423rd store outside of Japan, officially beating the number of stores it has in its domestic market.

The milestone was reached as it cut the ribbon on its Southeast Asia regional flagship, in Singapore’s Plaza Singapura mall on key shopping street Orchard Road.

The new store, its largest in Southeast Asia, carries a wider product offer than any of the other 10 Muji stores in Singapore, including the Labo clothing line, the Found Muji label (which features home items from around the world) and Idée. It also has the firm's third the third Café&Meal dining café and covers 1,640 sq m.

Parent company Ryohin Keikaku’s President Satoru Matsuzaki told the Nikkei Asian Review that the company aims to accelerate its expansion in South and Southeast Asia after some time spent focusing on the east of the continent (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea).

That acceleration will see it entering Vietnam next year as well as expanding in the Philippines after its debut there earlier this year in a joint venture deal.

The company will also focus on driving overseas revenue higher because, while store numbers abroad now exceed those in Japan, at ¥32.4 billion, revenue from those foreign stores is roughly half of that in its domestic market. Much of that figure came from China where it has 200 stores.

Singapore is key to this strategy as it’s a regional hub and Matsuzaki said it will also help the company get experience it can apply in India and the Middle East.

The company’s customers outside of Japan tend to be much younger than the Japanese shoppers it sees in its stores. But while these shoppers often have lower income levels than those older consumers in Japan, they also represent a chance to win customers at a young age and build brand loyalty that could last for years, analysts said.